The Greatest Journey Meme

I was tagged by Liz from The Mum Blog for the Greatest Journey Meme. Liz explains: I want to hear about your most memorable, incredibly journey so far – not just because of where you went but because of the emotional experience. Here’s my Greatest Journey:

The two couples didn’t speak English but they gestured with their camera and my friend T stepped forward to take their picture at the Uluwatu Monkey Temple overlooking the ocean. Just as she snapped the shutter, a thin furry arm reached from the tree over one of the men’s shoulder, snatched his sunglasses off his nose. It was a split second, then the monkey retreated to a safe distance on the roof of an adjoining building, in accessible.

We all laughed in surprise and the man made coaxing noises, until one of the other tourists said, “You have to give him peanuts,” available to buy in the temple. Sure enough, this monkey knew the score. The man tossed a peanut, which bumped over the surface of the roof. The monkey darted forward to claim it, at the same time carelessly tossing the sunglasses toward the man.

He retrieved them and all of us laughed before saying goodbye in our respective languages. It was our first day in Bali and the trip turned out to be significant not only because of what I actually saw and experienced but also because of what I realised about travel.

It was my first non-European holiday, the first time I invested “real” money to fly so far afield to a place so different from anyplace I’d been before.

There were monkeys and jungle edging right up to civilisation. Small Hindu offerings stood outside practically every doorway and we donned sarongs to visit Balinese temples. We took pictures of chickens dyed pink and orange and children practicing traditional dance.

We saw very poor people and wrestled with our role as “moneyed” tourists (although back home we struggled to pay rent and cover all our bills). We stayed in the most sumptuous hotels I’d ever seen (a perk of travelling with friends who were travel agents) and I recognised that staying in a luxury hotel is every bit as valid a way of travelling as renting a bargain basement room. (In Ubud, we stayed at the Begawan Giri, now the Como Shambhala Estate – which went a long way to helping me form this opinion.)

I also learned these three very important lessons that have shaped my travel ever since:

1. When people ask where you are from, they’re not simply being friendly. After a day of shopping and telling people about our lives in New York City, we remarked to our driver how inquisitive everyone was! “That’s because they think all Americans are rich. Then the British, then the Canadians, then Australians. The price is more for Americans.” Oh. People may be friendly, but as a visitor you also have a role to play. Keep a sense of humour about it.

2. Immerse yourself in the local way of life. I spent one day with a friend who’d moved to Ubud. We had massages at the local massage place – without a doubt the best I’ve ever had. We ate at a cheap little place surrounded by Balinese diners. We strolled by her favourite shops. There’s nothing novel about my take on this, but when you actually do it your eyes are opened.

3. I could travel far afield and go on journeys that at the beginning were a little bit frightening – because of cost, scale, distance and the dramatic differences I would find on arrival. If I wanted to go, I could save the money, do the research, book the flights and…arrive. It was a revelation.

4. You can find your travel soul mate. This isn’t necessarily your husband or even your best friend. I went to Bali with three other women. It was fun with all three, but T was the pal I spent the most time with, visiting the Monkey Forest, swimming each afternoon in the hotel pool (where the waiter strode in fully clothes to serve fruit to guest splashing about), and seeking out “authentic” souvenirs.

Once you have found this person – whose travel rhythms match yours – you must go with them to as many places as often as you can.

Read the Greatest Journeys from the other folks:

Mums Gone To, who went to Iceland

Mummytravels, for whom Egypt was tops

Expat Mum,

Jennifer Howze

I’m a journalist and blogger. Previously I was The Times’s online lifestyle editor and Alpha Mummy blogger. Now I’m co-founder of BritMums and BritMums Live! – our annual blogging conference that draws hundreds. Follow me on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Google+.